Wolves hunt down Brisbane
Warrington coach Tony Smith is hoping Wigan can take the lead from his side’s stunning win over Brisbane when they face NRL champions Cronulla today.
The Wolves proudly flew the flag for Super League, ending a six-match winning run by NRL opponents in the Dacia World Club Series, to set the lead for champions Wigan ahead of their title-deciding clash with the Sharks at the DW Stadium.
“It’s important for the code in this part of the world, for Super League and for England,” Smith said. “I think it was important that we represented it in the right sort of way and I think we did.
“We showed that by our skill levels. Some of the Australian style is pretty predictable and we knew what was going to be thrown at us. In that first half I think you saw we were pretty well prepared and we handled it.
“Hopefully we’ve set up a good time for Wigan as well, hopefully Wigan can see that the Australian teams are beatable. We wish them well.
“It was important for us to lay some of the platform for them. We’re also very grateful to Brisbane for coming over, some teams haven’t wanted to come over. We’re really keen to promote rugby league and so are they. We’d love to go over there and do it the other way around.
“It was a great occasion for our supporters. There will be young people in the stands who will talk about that game for the next 20, 30, 40 years.”
Warrington never looked back after stand-off Kevin Brown, on his delayed debut, put them ahead with a secondminute try following Joe Westerman’s charge-down of Ben Hunt’s attempted clearance kick.
Ryan Atkins and and Matty Russell added other tries as the Wolves established a 20-0 lead after 17 minutes while Tom Lineham added a fourth just before the break to keep them in control.
“I thought the boys deserved it, they worked very hard for each other,” Smith added. “Hopefully it’s kick-started us because we’ve been a bit off.”
Acting captain Kurt Gidley, who switched to full-back to accommodate Brown at stand-off, said a text from former Leeds hooker Danny Buderus, an old Newcastle Knights team-mate, helped provide him with extra motivation going into the game.
“Danny sent me a text through the week, saying you really buy into the Super League versus the NRL and he was spot on,” Gidley said. “I was highly motivated to win the game.
“I’m really proud of our efforts. I thought we were tough and resilient.”
Brown’s man-of-the-match performance impressed Brisbane and England coach Wayne Bennett, who recalled the former Widnes captain for last year’s autumn internationals.
“Kevin Brown controlled the game well and kicked extremely well which I was pleased to see,” Bennett said.
Brisbane pulled a try back in the first half through winger Corey Oates and briefly threatened a second-half revival when James Roberts and David Mead added others but Bennett conceded his side’s horror start had left them with too much to do.
“We’ve no complaints, Warrington played very well,” Bennett said. “They were disciplined and put a lot of pressure on us. We fell apart a little bit there and it took us a while to get back.”